Black Panther has got to thank China for an elite earning of more than $1 billion globally

Ryan Coogler's Black Panther has conquered the final leg of its global victory tour with a grand box-office opening weekend in China

Black Panther had set records even before it hit theatres with the sell-out of pre-sale tickets in the first 24 hours of availability. And on March 10, the movie had eclipsed $1 billion at the box office worldwide, becoming the fifth Marvel Cinematic Universe film to reach that milestone. Now, Ryan Coogler's Black Panther has conquered the final leg of its global victory tour with a grand box-office opening weekend in China.

The Marvel Disney hit has secured in $66.5 million on the weekend (from Friday to Sunday) and has established itself to be fifth biggest debut ever for a superhero title, according to Disney data. Throughout the weekend, Black Panther commanded an impressive 55 percent market share.

Still from the movie Black Panther (Source: Pinterest)

Marvel tentpoles have always done well in the region but Black Panther's $66.5 million opening haul far exceeded similar character-launch titles, including Guardians of the Galaxy ($30 million), Ant-Man ($42.8 million) and Doctor Strange ($43.6 million). It also beat all of the Thor films and each of the Captain America movies except for Civil War ($93.6 million).

This grand opening in China has put critics and myths to rest, of especially those who observed that movies led by all-black casts can't perform well internationally, particularly in East Asia.

Boys & Girls Club Long Beach members received the celebrity treatment with concessions and more during an advance IMAX screening of 'Black Panther' on February 15, 2018 in Long Beach, California. Hosted by IMAX, Regal Entertainment Group, Walt Disney Pictures and Marvel Studios. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for IMAX)

The box office is expected to surpass $100 million later this week. The powerful opening in China also helped Panther gain entry to an elite club of just 33 titles to have earned more than $1 billion globally. On Sunday evening, the film had earned $562 million domestically and $516.6 million internationally.

Entering Black Panther's wake, Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water is set to kick off a post-Oscar run at the Chinese market on Friday. Last year, Damien Chazelle's La La Land rode its Oscar attention to a healthy $35.9 million total in China, despite the past poor performance of musicals in the market.

However, Warner Bros.' Tomb Raider, opening Friday can be of some competition to Black Panther. The market has a huge fan-base for a female-led video game adaptation franchise, Resident Evil. The movie's 'The Final Chapter' opened to an enormous $94 million last year and finished at $159.5 million. The Angelina Jolie Tomb Raider movies came long before China's box-office boom and never scored a release there. But we cannot wait to see the turnout of this one.

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